Japan court says stock option income is salary
Publish date: 03 February 2005
Issue Number: 1268
Diary: Legalbrief Today
Category: Tax
In its first ruling on the matter, Japans Supreme Court has ruled that proceeds from exercising stock options should be regarded as a part of salary and thus subject to a higher tax rate than for one-time income.
The court\'s ruling, reports The Japan Times, rejected a suit filed by a former president of the Japan unit of US chip-maker Applied Materials. The ruling in favour of tax authorities upheld an earlier ruling by the Tokyo High Court and will probably affect similar lawsuits across Japan. There are 102 such suits pending, according to the National Tax Agency. Full report in The Japan Times
